Augustgradian Adventure: Soleanna Saga
by Zulon
Summary: Taking place following Sonic 188 the Freedom Fighters head to Murasia in the hopes of gaining the mysterious Terrans as allies. Sonic Characters - Property of Sega Corporation StarCraft Characters - Property of Blizzard Entertainment. RE-UPLOADED.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Mystery of Murasia

Location: New Mobotropolis

Just after Sonic 188…

* * *

Night had long since fallen over the city of New Mobotropolis and the citizens slept peacefully confident that they were safe and sound behind the protective walls of the city. A figure stood atop one of the buildings his spiky dark purple hair tossed about in the wind along with a long red scarf that covered his mouth as he stared down a the city with his purple pupil-less eyes. He wore a one piece black, tight fitting bodysuit with white fingers, underneath a purple sleeveless shirt with yellow trim that ran along the bottom of it and up through the middle, purple pants that didn't quite reach his ankles, purple shoes with black soles and gold ankle bands. He had a pair of large bulky gold wristbands, while a pair of large, bulky white earpieces covered his ears. He reached down and grabbed the handle of a large metallic suitcase that lay at his feet and leapt from the building on to the roof of another as he made his way towards Castle Acorn where his master had dispatched him. He landed silently on the balcony of that led into Princess Sally Alicia Acorn's private chamber and slipped inside where he found her sleeping peacefully within her bed. He moved towards the side of the bed slowly when Sally stirred awake and saw the intruder in her room. She opened her mouth to scream but the figure clamped a strong hand over her mouth preventing her from doing so.

"I have come at the request of my master," the figure said placing metal suitcase upon her lap, "Allies await in the unexplored lands of Murasia and the information can be found within this case. Find the City of Water and you will find the gateway to allies that will tip the war in your favour."

The figure slowly removed his hand from Sally's mouth and began back towards her open balcony.

"Wait your master; who?" she cried out as the figure's body condensed in to a beam of white light and disappeared into the air.

Sally sat in bed for a moment, slightly shaken over the ordeal before deciding to open the suitcase where she discovered the Chaos Emeralds, all seven to be exact along with what appeared to be a data chip with a glowing crystal core. She removed the chip from the suitcase and tossed the covers off of her body as she climbed out of her bed.

"NICOLE?" she asked causing her artificial friend appeared in the room.

"Are you alright Sally? I thought I detected an intruder," she asked.

"I'm fine, could you analyze the information on this chip?" Sally asked handing her it.

"I'll need a moment," she stated taking it from her, "Where did you get this from?"

"The intruder," Sally explained, "He also brought the Chaos Emeralds."

"I really need to update security," NICOLE sighed as she closed her hand that contained the data chip and closed her eyes, running a quick virus scan before reading the information off of it, her eyes shifting underneath her lids, "…Well this is interesting…I'll need some time to look over the data."

"I'll wake Elias and see if he can gather the council," Sally said as she watched as NICOLE vanished away.

* * *

Location: Acorn Council Chambers

Sometime later…

* * *

King Elias had been none too pleased to hear that an intruder had managed to bypass security, but given the circumstances he agreed to summon the Council of Acorn for an emergency session to review the information loaded on the data chip once they had stored the Chaos Emeralds within Castle Acorn's vault.

"Very interesting," Sir Charles yawned, "Murasia is a vastly unexplored region, that we were never able to explore because of the Great War and Robotnik's subsequent coup. I can see how this city managed to remain hidden all this time."

"The question is…" Rosemary began, "who are the inhabitants and will they be willing to join our alliance?"

"I can answer that," NICOLE said appearing the chamber beside Sally.

"What did you find out?" Dylan asked.

"The city is called Soleanna, also known as the City of Water and the inhabitants share and common history with the Humans of the United Federation."

"You mean it's a United Federation settlement?" Sally asked.

"No!" NICOLE said bluntly, "but they are related to them. About seven hundred years ago a group of Humans under the leadership of a Station Square senator named Doran Routhe departed the city in search of new lands to colonize. The government had rejected his proposal forcing the Senator to fund the project himself. A number of families ended up leaving and they renamed themselves Terrans as a result and eventually formed the Terran Republic."

"I wonder why the President never told us?" Rotor said aloud.

"It was seven hundred years ago, people tend to forget things," NICOLE replied.

"Any idea what their military is like?" Dylan asked.

"Unfortunately the information on the chip is incomplete," NICOLE explained, "It would appear that our mysterious benefactor had purposely omitted key details on the Terrans, so we won't know until we actually go down there."

"It would be foolhardy to go down there without knowing the dangers," Penelope stated.

"I agree," Elias stated.

"Then perhaps it would be in the council's best interest to dispatch a small recon team to scout out the area before the arrival of the diplomat team," Sally suggested.

"We have Eggman on the ropes," Hamlin shouted, "We should be forcing our attention on him not be wasting our time trying to make friends."

"I agree with you," Rosemary said, "however Eggman's threat had greatly diminished, nothing that the Army and the Chaotix can't handle."

"Let's put this to a vote," King Elias suggested, "All in favour of deploying a Diplomatic Team to Murasia?"

"Yea," Sir Charles said.

"Yea," Rosemary said

"Yea," Rotor declared.

"Um…yea," Dylan stammered.

"Yea," Penelope added.

"Nay!" Hamlin shouted.

"Yea," King Elias finished, "…Motion carries. The council hereby approves that request to dispatch a team to open diplomatic relations with the Terrans."

"Princess Sally you are very capable Diplomat, you have proven so in the past and I see no other more qualified then you are," Rosemary said looking at her fellow councillors nodding, "at our request we ask of you to please bear the burden once more."

"I accept your request, councillors," Sally replied with a slight bow.

"Then we shall leave you to organize your team," Elias said, "and if there is nothing else…this meeting is adjourned."

"So what now, Sally?" NICOLE asked exiting the Council Chamber with her.

"Summon the Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix. We have work to do," Sally replied.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Arrival

Location: Murasia

Several days later…

* * *

Murasia was a jungle-covered region full of high mountains and plenty of ruins of a once thriving civilization and held little interest in the eyes of Doctor Robotnik and the Eggman Empire. The Cyclone V2 flew over the vast sea of trees and high mountains that made up much of Murasia with Miles "Tails" Prower seated behind the controls, while Sonic the Hedgehog sat in the back seat with his Air Board, looking rather bored. The Cyclone V2 was an upgraded version of Cyclone with several features that the original did not have such as being a two-seater, the ability to transform into the Sea-fox and with superior firepower and armour that original was severely lacking. The Cyclone was still a ways from its destination when the wind began picking up and dark clouds began to fill the sky. A storm was blowing in and a nasty one at that.

"We gotta land Sonic," Tails yelled over the wind, "it's getting too dangerous to fly in this weather."

Sonic looked over the side of the Cyclone and spotted an elevated area of foliage cover land that towered over the rest of the jungle that was the size of a small city.

"There," Sonic shouted pointed to the mesa, "we can take shelter down there."

The Cyclone banked and dropped in attitude heading towards the mesa and transforming into its walker mode allowing Tails to land the vehicle and maneuvered it into the forest to get out of the rain that had begun to fall. The forest was humid, but not so much that it was uncomfortable and the canopy was thick enough that it prevented the rain from penetrating.

"Well so much for that," Sonic said as he leapt out of the Cyclone as it lowered itself to the ground.

"We won't be going any further today," Tails remarked.

"It's almost evening anyways. We wouldn't have been able to fly much further," Sonic explained, "Let's just set up camp for the night and wait it out."

"Your right Sonic," Tails said climbing out of the Cyclone, "We'll need some water and firewood. I looked for the water if you want to collect the firewood."

"Yeah! Sure thing, Big Guy."

Several minutes later Tails was walking along a well worn path that seem to have been traveled once before with a clear collapsible plastic water jug in his arms as he for any sort of pond of stream but so far all he had come across was a bunch of crumbling ruins. He stopped and looked around before spotting a small pond that was located just off the path and head over to fill the jug water. Once sufficiently filled he added several water treatment pills, screwed on the cap and turned to head back to the campsite when his foot came in contact with something hard. Lying embedded in the mud was a small vaguely egg-shaped robot with a small pair of arms that came out from either side of it and a small pair of located on the bottom with some sort with a red ocular sensor that served as an eye. Tails set the water jug down and pulled the robot out of the mud and examined every inch of the device, its white paint covered in nicks and scratches and discovered that it was offline, having been so for quite some time, but with a little work he was sure that he could get it working again. Holding on to the robot with one hand and carrying the water jug with another Tails traveled back to the campsite where Sonic had gotten a small fire going to provide them with warmth.

"Good timing," Sonic said sitting in front of the fire he had started before noticing the object in Tails' hand, "What's that doohickey?"

"It looks like a robot," Tails explained placing the water jug on the ground and heading over to the Cyclone, "I found it while I was searching for the water."

"It could be one of Eggman's." Sonic warned looking over to see Tails removing a small toolset from the cockpit of the Cyclone.

"I don't think so," Tails replied walking over to the fire and taking a seat, "It doesn't look like any of his other robots."

Grabbing a screwdriver Tails slowly unscrewed the panel on the back of the robot revealing a compartment full of damaged wires which looked like whoever had built the robot had done a pretty terrible job of it. Tails soon looked up and noticed that Sonic had a bored look on his face and decided that it was time to show him one of his side projects that he had recently completed.

"There's something that I want to show you Sonic," Tails said as he climbed to his feet and headed back over to the Cyclone.

Sonic watched as Tails rummaged around in the cockpit of the Cyclone for several minutes before finally removing what appeared to be some sort of supped-up coffee grinder. Another few minutes of fiddling with the device yielded a miniature ring of golden energy.

"A…Power Ring?" Sonic said aloud.

"Not just any Power Ring, Sonic," Tails said, "I created a miniature Power Ring Generator."

As Tails walked back towards Sonic his foot struck a rock sending Tails to the ground but Sonic was there to catch him, but the Power Ring had escaped his grasp and rolled along the ground before coming in contact with the robot that he had been working on. There was a release of energy that caused both Sonic and Tails to shield their eyes from the light.

"Repairs detected to internal systems…"

"Beginning analysis of internal memory…"

"Corruption detected in primary directive…"

"Unable to recover…"

"Power Stability: 100%…"

Sonic and Tails slowly walked over to the robot and discovered that the mess of wires had actually fused with the circuit board. Tails slowly sat on his knees and screwed the panel back on and turned the robot over.

"Who are you, gill?" the robot asked floating out of Tails' hands with some sort of antigravity unit.

"Me? I'm Tails and this is Sonic," Tails said point to the blue hedgehog, "What's your name?"

"Designation: DD-464, gill gill," the robot replied.

"Well that's a mouthful," Sonic said crossing his arms.

"Why do you keep saying gill?" Tails questioned.

"Anomaly detected in Operating System, gill gill."

"Hey why don't we call you Gill," Tails suggested.

"Hmmm…Gill?" the robot said trying the name, "Gill like, gill gill."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Princess in Peril

Location: Outside the city of Soleanna

Evening, the next day…

* * *

The setting sun caused the sky to turn orange as the Cyclone V2 slowly descended from the sky and landed in a small-forested area that that extended out into a large canyon that was located just outside the city. Early that morning before Sonic and Tails had continued their mission with their new companion they had received a transmission from the others with a message from Rotor back in New Mobotropolis. The United Federation had provided SAT-photos of the area, which indicated that there was no airport in the city for them to land in thus they would be forced to travel on foot the rest of the way. Sonic leapt out of the Cyclone and looked around the area as Tails lowered the mech to the ground and began fiddling with his communication device.

"You should go on ahead, Sonic," Tails suggested, "I'm gonna contact Aunt Sally and the others and tell them that we've arrived."

"All right Tails, but don't be too long," Sonic said as he raced off towards the city followed by a Sonic boom.

Tails looked around the area and noticed that Gill was floating too far away from the Cyclone V2 for his liking.

"Gill, get back here," Tails called out as he switched on his communication device.

* * *

Location: Soleanna

Several minutes later…

* * *

Soleanna was one of the most beautiful cities in the Terran Republic with white stone buildings of European architecture and numerous bridges spanning over the many canals that weaved it's way throughout the entire city. Night had already fallen over city and fireworks lit up the night sky and reflected off the water that flowed through the canals; while colourful lights were wrapped around the numerous stone pillars around town and paper lanterns were hung from the buildings. The fireworks soon ceased as an elegant looking gondola with six oars on either side emerging from underneath one of the bridges and approached an odd looking platform located in the waterlogged town square. Princess Elise Routhe stood on the bow of the gondola dressed in a white gown that was adorned with gold and silk that reached her knees, a large necklace with diamonds set in it, long white gloves that reached her forearms, red heels, and feather clips in her short, neck length red hair as she waved to the crowds of people that had gathered in the streets for the beginning of Soleanna's Festival of Fire. The gondola docked at the platform and allowed the princess to disembark and approached a priest who stood at attention with two brown robed guards. She bowed to the priest and was handed a lit torch by one of her two red robed female bodyguards and stared into the flame her light blue eyes as he had another one of her visions. She floated high and watched much to her horror as the entire city of Soleanna was suddenly engulfed in flames as giant monster made of fire and lava raised its head and let out a deafening roar.

"Miss Elise?" asked one of her bodyguards bringing the princess out of her daze.

"It…it's alright," she replied before bowing to the priest in front of her.

"We give thanks for the blessed flame, may we always continue to have piece," Elise said aloud, "Sun of Soleanna, guide and watch over us with your eternal light…"

The princess approached the Alter of Flame that was located in the center of the platform and used the torch to ignite the tinder within a dish causing the flames to rush up along to another dish located higher on the platform to ignite. Fireworks resumed as Elise turned and waved to the crowd when suddenly missiles impacted the platform and buildings causing the crowd to erupt in screams including the princess as a remodelled Egg Carrier appeared over the city. Panic erupted throughout the city as the bottom of the ship opened and several Egg Gunners dropped down onto the platform surrounding the Princess and the guards with her as a hovering platform descended from the sky and hovered near the princess revealing the sinister scientist Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik who bowed before her before straightening himself.

"A pleasure to meet you at last, Princess of Soleanna," Robotnik said, "I am Doctor Eggman, I've come here to annex your Kingdom and make it a part of the Eggman Empire. If you wish no harm to come to your people then you best do as you're told. Now princess…this way…please."

Elise took several steps back away from Dr. Eggman as the four guards present on the platform attempted to protect her from harm. Slowly the wind began to pick up spinning around the platform going faster and faster until stopping completely.

"My…that's a pretty snazzy performance there," Sonic said appearing on top of the now extinguished Alter of Flame.

"You…it can't be," Elise said recognizing the Mobian, but unsure where she had seen him.

The robots suddenly opened fire on the hedgehog who leapt off of the dish and attacked one robot with a homing attack, then another, and another until only one remained as Sonic raced towards it and kicked it off of the platform and into the water below.

"I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog," he said racing over to the princess and scooping her up in his arms and leaping off of the platform.

"Not that irritating hedgehog again," Robotnik yelled, "ATTACK!!!"

Several more robots who had arrived on the scene immediately targeted the hedgehog and launched a barrage of missiles at him that impacted the now deserted streets of the city before Sonic escaped into the night.

"Um, why are you helping me?" Elise asked after several minutes.

"No special reason," Sonic said leaping over to a canal and onto another street and continued running.

"SONIC!" Elise warned as five of Eggman's robots landed in the streets.

Sonic put Elise down on her feet as raced towards one of the robots and planted his feet into it's chest knocking it over and leapt into the air as another robot fired it's Vulcan Cannon but caught another robot in its line of fire as Sonic took out the remaining three with a homing attack before landing on his feet.

Elise's screams caused the blue hedgehog to turn around and see that the Princess was captured in one of the mechanical arms of Robotnik hover platform.

"Enough games Hedgehog. I'll be taking the princess with me, you wouldn't put her life at risk would you?" asked Eggman.

"Whatever you're planning it isn't going to work," warned Sonic.

"Sonic!" Elise cried out.

"Don't worry, I'll save you," Sonic said looking directly at the Princess.

"I know."

The platform slowly began to rise higher into the air as a section of the ship opened and Eggman's platform vanished into the bottom as it flew off towards the distance.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Flames of Iblis

Location: Soleanna

The next morning…

* * *

The sun had risen over the land of Murasia and the Terrans of Soleanna were busy cleaning up after Eggman's attack the previous night as Sonic walked through the city's Bistro District along with Tails with Gill floating beside him. The blue hedgehog had tried to chase after the Egg Carrier but had ultimately been able to do so since most of the city's bridges had ended up damaged from the attack and isolated the various districts. It was only recently that he had finally found Tails and had begun planning their next move.

"I've contacted the other and told them about the situation and they've relayed it to the council," Tails explained, "they'll fly all night if they have to."

"Which means that in the meantime we have to save their Princess," Sonic stated.

"Princess Elise Routhe," Tails corrected, "she's a direct descendant of Doran Routhe the man who led the Terrans from Station Square."

Tails looked over and realized that he was receiving a strange look from Sonic.

"WHAT!? We were sent here to gather intelligence and that what I did while I was searching for you," Tails explained in his defence.

"I didn't say anything," Sonic replied, "What else did you learn…on second thought let's find the princess first then will worry about it."

"…I'm worried Sonic," Tails said, "These Terrans have no idea what Eggman is capable of. What if he attacks again?"

"If he does he'll be sorely disappointed," a voice said causing the three to turn to see a Terrans standing behind them.

He was a lanky man with dirty blonde hair is splattered his light saturations of gray and tied into a ponytail to hide an obvious bald spot and dressed in a worn brown coat with black pants, black shoes and a white shirt.

"Who are you?" Sonic demanded.

"Daniel Liberty, I'm a reporter for the UNN," he introduced, "but please call me Mike."

"What did you mean that Eggman would be 'sorely disappointed'?" Tails asked.

Mike simply point in the air causing the two Mobians and their robot companion to look up in the sky and saw a large airship with large wings and a hammerhead-like front-end along with several small aircraft flying alongside it.

"Woah!" Tails yelped, "its huge."

"It's the Norad II; the command ship of General Edmund Duke of Alpha Squadron. The military sure isn't taking this situation lightly," Mike explained, "Alpha Squadron is the best of the best, Dr. Eggman won't catch the city off guard next time."

Both Sonic and Tails were left speechless and Mike stood there for several minutes in silence before finally speaking again.

"If you're going to try and rescue our Princess you might want to check the coastline, I hear that someone spotted robots down there," Mike suggested as he turned and left.

Sonic looked at Tails and the two quickly raced off towards the beach with Gill floating after them.

* * *

Location: Soleanna Museum

That same time…

* * *

Dr. Finitevus walked along the white and black marble tiles that covered the entire floor of the interior of Soleanna's Museum of Archaeology. His carefully laid out plans had been foiled by Locke and in his haste to escape he had accidentally stranded himself in a region of Mobius known as the Volcanic Wastes. But then his benefactors appeared before him with an invitation to be a part of the new world that they wished to create, an invitation that he quickly accepted. They had dispatched him to Murasia to gather information on an ancient power known as the Flames of Disaster and more importantly how to revive it. He wondered down the many hallways, past the numerous visitors until he stop in front of a large piece of moth eaten tapestry hanging from the wall. Drawn onto its surface in red was what looked like a large fiery dragon of monstrous in size with two pairs of arms, it was exactly what he had been searching for.

"Professor Jacob Ramsey excavated that near the ruins of Mobupinchu," a voice said causing Finitevus to turn to see a Terran standing behind him.

He had light brown hair, brown eyes and was dressed in a burgundy suit with an open top that revealed a black dress shirt underneath.

"I'm Doctor William Cadbury," he said as he introduced himself.

"Finitevus," the Echidna replied, "what do you know about those that once inhabited this land?"

"Ah…well the Murasians once inhabited this entire area and built a vast and powerful empire, but the entire civilization was wiped out in a terrible war and the Flames of Disaster were born during that conflict," Cadbury explained, "The various artifacts that we've collected indicate that a group of great heroes were able to contain the flames in what became known as Hot Crater."

"Hot Crater?" Finitevus questioned.

"It's a fiery region east of Kingdom Valley," Cadbury explained, "It's a common belief that it was a forested area until the Flames consumed it."

"Dr. Cadbury, Mr. Atsumi is here to see you," a young woman with blonde hair and dressed in a black suit with glasses said appearing behind the two.

"You'll have to excuse me, but please enjoy your visit," Dr. Cadbury said as he departed. Dr. Finitevus stood there for several minutes before a sadistic smile seemed to spread across his face as he looking around the area making sure that no one could see him and activated one of his Warp Rings, vanishing from site.

* * *

Location: Hot Crater

Seconds later…

* * *

The moment that Finitevus stepped foot in the Hot Crater Region of Murasia he was hit by a wave of unbearable heat that immediately caused the albino echidna to begin sweating. It was a rocky, volcanic region with magma pouring over various elevations creating deadly waterfalls of molten rock and rivers of fire that flowed everywhere. The power of the Flames of Disaster was amazing, turning a once forested region into fiery wasteland that had continued to burn for over two thousand years. The information that had been recorded within the Albion archives only told a small portion of the story and large amounts of data had been missing until now. The Flames of Disaster had a true name: Iblis and over two thousand years ago the Albion Knights and a mysterious civilization known as the Erehwon had battled the "Murasians" and banished Iblis into the Abyss. Even after all this time that magic that had been used to do so was still as strong as ever and if properly tapped could be used to open a portal to the Abyss and free Iblis. Finitevus removed a warp ring from around his left arm and held it up in the air, at first nothing happed but then slowly particles of magical energy began infusing themselves into the Warp Ring and turning it from gold to tarnished copper.

"Bwaahaha…soon…the world shall be cleansed with fire," Finitevus laughed as he vanished through another Warp Ring.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Kommissar of the Desert

Location: Soleanna – Murasia

Several hours later…

* * *

Sonic and Tails had returned to Soleanna after having chased after the Egg Carrier for several hours in an attempt to rescue Princess Elise but had ultimately failed to catch up to it when it passed over a set of mountains with aircraft from the Terran military chasing after. They had since returned to Soleanna to think up a new plan of action.

"What are we going to do now, Sonic?" Tails asked with Gill clinging to his shoulder.

"We need to rescue Elise," Sonic said, "If we do that I'm sure we can get these Terrans to join us,"

"We just need to find her." Tails remarked.

The two Mobians stopped at a hotdog vendor and discovered that they accepted Mobiums and Sonic immediately ordered a chilidog and a coke while Tails ordered the same except with extra cheese on his.

"I guess they've had dealings with Mobians before," Tails surmised as he took a bite.

"Well…that would explain why they don't seem surprised to see us. But whatever the case maybe at least we no longer have to keep eating those MRE's," Sonic replied.

The two ate and walked in silence for several minutes until they heard what sounded like gunfire coming from nearby.

"What was that?" Tails asked looking at Sonic.

"I donno, but we better check it out," Sonic said tossing what remained of his meal into a nearby trashcan before racing off with Tails in tow.

As they passed through the gate that led to the desert they found between the crags, rock and sand was a war zone between the Terran Military and a verity of Eggman's newest robots.

"Danger! Danger!" Gill warned hiding behind Tails.

There were lightly armoured infantrymen fighting alongside heavily armed marines decked out in large bulky armour. The trio watched as two Dropships slowly descend from the sky and depositing what looked like a pair of tanks on two ridges that were on either side of the gate before they transformed into what appeared to be some sort of artillery mode and began shelling the approaching robots. Although they appeared to be quite outnumbered the Terrans were easily holding their own.

"We need to help them," Tails said as Sonic shot forward and slammed into one of Eggman's robots that had pinned down one soldier who was unable to fight back.

He was a broad shoulder man with a head of sandy blonde hair, and neatly trimmed moustache and beard and stood dressed in a pair of well-worn buckskin leather pants, a worn denim shirt with rolled up sleeves, a black lightweight combat vest and wielding a combat shotgun.

"Thank you," he said to Sonic, "My weapon was jammed. Name's Jim Raynor, I'm the local Marshal."

"Name's Sonic," he explained, "that's Tails. What can we do to help?"

"Not much," the Marshal replied, "We've got reinforcements en route from Alpha Squadron so we can hold things here. But intelligence indicates that there's activity coming from a ruined temple a couple miles away. Dr. Eggman may have left Princess Elise there but we've been unable to retrieve her. If you want to help then she needs the most," Raynor said.

"Marshal!" someone yelled.

"What is it Matt?" Raynor called to a young man with dark hair and wearing light combat armour.

"Grizzly's are en route from Norad II, ETA 45 second," he called out.

"All units pull back!" Raynor yelled as he leapt from behind cover and fired at the closet robot before dropping back behind cover, "Once the Grizzly's have passed you'll have to move quickly."

"No problem, we'll be gone before they come," Sonic said as he grabbed Tails and shot off across the battlefield.

"Wait! Are you crazy!?" Raynor screamed but the two Mobians had already cleared the war zone as the Grizzly's arrived to bombard the area.

* * *

Location: Shamar Desert

Half an hours later…

* * *

Sonic and Tails eventually found the temple that Marshal Raynor spoke of half an hour later sticking out of the desert sand, but they never expected to see members of the Dark Egg Legion patrolling the area.

"I guess Eggman can't afford to spread his robotic forces too thin," Tails said as he lay on a sandy ridge that overlooked the temple with Sonic.

"I wonder just how much of the Legion is actually here?" Sonic asked out loud.

"Half at most," Tails stated, "Eggman can't afford to leave New Megaopolis undefended."

"We have to get inside," Sonic said standing up.

"Right," Tails said climbing to his feet as well.

The two quickly and carefully made their way down the sand dunes and waited behind a large stone the jutted out of the sand and waited for several minutes for the Legionnaire guarding the entrance to wonder off before racing through the entrance. More member of the Dark Egg Legion patrolled the interior of the temple as the two Mobians and one robot hide behind rubble and debris of varying sizes as they made their way to the heart of the temple. There was a large stone door that separated them from the princess and Sonic simply slammed into it causing the entire door to disintegrate into dust where they found Princess Elise sitting on a ruined pillar located in a large dusty chamber.

"Mr. Sonic!" she said standing up and running over to him.

"Just call me Sonic," he said as Elise suddenly embraced him in a hug causing him to blush, "now then are you ok?"

"I'm so glad that you came…"

"I always keep my word."

"Sonic!" Tails cried out.

They turned to see a female Echidna dressed in black leather standing in the doorway of the chamber holding a blaster in her right hand.

"Lien-Da," Sonic snarled.

"The Doctor said you were in the area," she said strolling into the chamber.

"How could you work for Eggman?" Tails demanded.

"Our very way of life from was taken from us by Enerjak!" Lien-Da yelled, "Robotnik was the only one we could turn to."

"He nearly exterminated your people!" Sonic shouted.

"I will do whatever it takes to protect what remains of my people and if that means having to work for him in order to ensure their continued survival then so be it. But my orders were clear; I cannot allow you to leave here with the Princess." Lien-Da said pointing the gun at them.

Sonic, Tails, and Elise watched as Gill suddenly appeared behind Lien-Da as the top half of the robot suddenly raised up from the lower half revealing as teaser-like device. Lien-Da quickly whipped around only to receive several hundred volts of electricity throughout her entire body. The Echidna let out a shriek, her body collapsing to the ground and losing consciousness as soon as her head struck the stone floor as the group watched on.

"Is she…?" Elise began as Tails rushed over to check her pulse.

"She's alive," the fox reported, "we should get out of here before more Legionnaires show up."

Several minutes later the group emerged from the temple and into the hot desert sun, but what they found was several of Robotnik's new robots flying toward them.

"How long is this gonna go on?" Sonic asked.

"Let's split up," Tails suggested, "I'll get their attention and you take the princess."

"…Ok, but you be careful, Tails," Sonic said reluctantly.

"Leave it to me," Tails replied as he took to the air while Sonic picked up Elise.

"Hold on tight," Sonic warned.

"Okay," Elise replied as he took off running.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Inter-bellum

Location: The Egg Carrier

Sometime later…

* * *

The Egg Carrier rested on the forest floor, hidden completely from both radar and sight as Dr. Eggman sat within the bridge waiting patiently for the heat to let up. He had initially traveled to Murasia in the hopes of locating the mythical Deep Power Stones after discovering a scroll in the Mountain City of Maga, but his discovery of Soleanna was purely coincidental and its location was perfect for launching attacks on the United Federation. But the inhabitants had been none too happy with him abducting their Princess and their military had hounded him relentlessly until he engaged the Umbrella Cloak to escaped from them. They were definitely no push over, but then again neither was he. He was still trying to rebuild his ground forces and the robots that he had been using were completely untested, but so far they had surpassed all of his expectations. A sudden beeping from the computer terminal in front of him bring the large egg-shaped doctor out of his thoughts and causing him to tapping a button on his armrest as a tall, slim and gold-coloured robot appeared on the screen.

"Ah Decoe, have an update for me do you?" The doctor asked.

"Yes Doctor…your Energy Amplifier has been completed ahead of schedule," the robot reported.

"Excellent…EXCELLENT," Eggman said, "That's the best news I've heard in quite some time."

"What about the Chaos Emeralds, Doctor?" Decoe asked.

"Don't you worry Decoe, I have a plan," he said with a sinister smile as he cut off the video feed and re-established contact with the Egg Dome.

"Uncle Robotnik?" Snively asked appearing on the screen.

"Snively…I have a job for you."

* * *

Location: Soleanna

That same time…

* * *

It took some time to travel from the desert back to Soleanna, but soon Sonic and Princess Elise had finally made it to the safety of city just as the sun was slowly began to set.

"I have no words to express how grateful I am for your help," Elise said.

"I told you that I'd rescue you, I always keep my promise," Sonic reminded her as the two began walking away from the city gate, "We came here to gather intelligence for when our friends arrive, we were hoping that your people would ally with us against Eggman, but we never thought that he would show up."

"If you hadn't have come, who knows what he might have done to my people…" Elise began, "If you're hoping to get us to ally then you should travel to Augustgrad to speak with the Prime Minister and the United Assembly. They are the ones who hold true power."

"Augustgrad?" Sonic asked.

"Yes," Elise stated, "it was founded by our ancestors, it's the stronghold of my people and where the United Assembly is located."

"Do you know how we can get there?" Sonic asked.

"It's hidden inside of Mount Murasia but I'm afraid that without the proper clearance you won't be allowed past the airport," Elise explained, "I will speak with my father and see if he can help."

"MISS ELISE!" a voice called out as an older man dressed in a black suit with a black top hat and a monocle rushed towards them, "thank goodness you are alright?"

"I'm fine Lord Regis, thanks to Sonic," she replied.

"Thank you lad," the older Terran said shacking Sonic's hand, "I'm Alexander Regis: Mayor of Soleanna. Nothing we do can ever be enough to repay you for what you have done."

"It was nothing," Sonic said.

"Come along you Highness, let us return you to the castle, your parents have returned from Tyrador and have been worried sick," Lord Regis said as he began walking away.

Elise took one last look at Sonic before finally turning and following.

"Now that she's safe I gotta hurry and find Tails," Sonic said and raced off in search of his friend.

Sonic couldn't help but be amazed at how quickly the damage that Soleanna had sustained during Eggman's attack had been repaired as if nothing had happened at all. As the blue hedgehog raced through the streets of the city he noticed Tails entered the gate that they had taken to reach the desert and skidded to a stop in front of him.

"You made it," Sonic said.

"Is the Princess safe?" Tails asked.

"Yep the Mayor is taking her back to the castle," Sonic replied, "Plans have definitely changed."

"We should head back to the Cyclone and send a report to the others," Tails suggested.

"Sounds good. Let's good," Sonic said as he raced off with Tails following behind.

* * *

Location: Outside Soleanna

Late the next day…

* * *

Sonic let out a yawn as he lay in the back seat of the Cyclone V2 the shade of the surrounding trees provided them protection from the heat of the late afternoon sun as they waited for the arrival of Freedom Two. They had reported the situation to the others, but found out that they would be delayed due to engine trouble that had forced them to land. Tails stared up into the sky in time to see the aircraft passed overhead, blocking out the sun for several seconds as it prepared to land in the canyon.

"They're here," Tails reported as he piloted the Cyclone V2 out of the forest in time to watch the ship extended its landing gear and made a soft landing in the grass.

Several minutes later the loading ramp descended and Sally, Bunnie, Mighty, Ray, Antoine and Amy emerged with several bags.

"Glad you could make it," Sonic said jumping out of the Cyclone and approached them.

"Sorry we're late" Sally asked, "Did you learn anything about Augustgrad?"

"I managed to access their computer network," Tails replied as he piloted the Cyclone to the loading ramp of Freedom Two, "it appears to be made up of nine different provinces: Mar Sara, Chau Sara, Diamond Hills, Ash'Arak, Rio Del Santos, Torsonis, Umoja, Halcyon, and Tyrador."

"Any sign of Robotnik?" Bunnie asked.

"Not since his attack, but he's still around, I'm sure of it," Sonic replied, "anything new?"

"GUN discovered one of Robotnik's bases hidden out in the Mystic Ruins," Sally explained, Abraham Tower; the Chief Commander of GUN believes that it's been there since the whole Chaos Incident."

"Great," Sonic muttered, "What'd they find?"

"When Shadow and Rouge led the raid on it they discovered a decommissioned E-Series unit that they appropriated along with other data," Sally replied, "They also found a near completed Robotic Weapons Platform, something called Egg Genesis."

"Well that's just peachy," Sonic muttered.

"Tails! What's with that robot?" Amy asked.

"Huh? Oh that just Gill, I found him a couple of days ago," Tails explained.

"Are you sure we can trust it?" Amy asked.

"He's not one of Eggman's," Tails replied, "Gill was poorly built, not even Eggman's that reckless."

"It seems that I found you just in time," a voice said causing the Mobians to turn to see Lord Alexander Regis standing behind them, "I've been requested by his royal majesty Edward Routhe to escort you to Pokupeto Palace. He wishes to properly thank you for saving his daughter and assist you in your endeavours."

A Terran Dropship descended from the sky and landed next to Freedom Two causing the Mobians to look at one another before Sally finally spoke.

"You mean right now?"

"Yes," Lord Regis replied, "This way please."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Meeting with Royalty

Location: Pokupeto Palace

Several minutes later…

* * *

Pokupeto Palace was a breathtakingly large castle of medieval design that was located on a small island that was just off the coast of Soleanna and served as the home of the Routhe Family. The Dropship carrying Lord Regis and the Freedom Fighters landed in a small hanger and were escorted into the interior by a pair of lightly armoured guards that resembled the Infantrymen that had fought against Eggman's robots in the desert. The interior was even more breathtaking, large windows that allowed sunlight to pour through, white marble tile floors with paintings of past members of the Routhe Family hanging on both sides of the cavernous hallway. The Freedom Fighters were awe struck as they were led by Lord Regis to the throne room where they found a tall man with dark hair streaked with gray and dressed in regal clothes of dark brown and gold as he stood within the chamber in front of a large window behind a pair of thrones.

"Your Majesty," Lord Regis said, "I have brought the Hedgehog and his friends as you have requested."

"Thank you Lord Regis," he said turning to face them, "Please prepare the necessary paperwork."

Lord Regis gave a bow and turned, leaving the Mobians alone with the rather imposing Terran King.

"I am Edward Routhe; King of the Terrans," he introduced placing his hands behind his back, "I thank you Sonic for rescuing my daughter from Dr. Eggman. She had informed me that you seek entry into Augustgrad."

"That is correct, your Majesty," Sally replied, "We came in the hopes of persuading your people to ally with us against Dr. Robotnik and the Eggman Empire."

"The Princess said that it's your Prime Minister that holds true power," Sonic said.

"That is correct. My ancestor had no desire for absolute power when he was chose as King, that's why he installed and constitutional monarchy," King Edward explained, "Lord Regis will be drawing up the necessary paperwork that will grant you access into Augustgrad. In the meantime let us head to the dining hall, both my wife and daughter are waiting for us."

* * *

Location: Pokupeto Palace

Several minutes later…

* * *

The Mobians soon found themselves within a large grand dining room with wood floors, an elegant dining table made of dark wood, while a large crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling over the table. Standing within the room was Princess Elise along with an older woman with long red hair, green eyes, and dressed in a purple gown.

"Some of you have already met my daughter, but I'd like you to meet my wife; Aleena," King Edward introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Aleena said, "Thank you for saving our daughter."

Each of the Mobians introduced themselves before several servants escorted them to their seats when Sally finally spoke.

"Your Majesties, if you don't mind me asking. Could you tell us a bit about Augustgrad and the Terran Republic?"

"Not at all, we have some time before lunch is served," King Edward replied, "our ancestors founded Augustgard seven hundred years ago after departing Station Square. It's located within a limestone cavern deep inside Mount Murasia, but why they chose to establish our nation within a cavern is beyond us, perhaps it was because it reminded them of their former home. Anyways Augustgrad is made up of a verity of ecosystems that contains the nine different provinces."

"Your Majesties, how has Soleanna managed to go undetected for so long?" Tails asked.

"Soleanna was built approximately six years ago." Queen Aleena explained.

"That would explain things," Sally said looking over at Sonic who was seated next to her.

"And several years earlier an archaeological team was studying the ruins in Kingdom Valley when they came into contact with refugees hailing from Mega Central," King Edward continued.

"You had contact with the Overlanders?" Sally asked in surprise although she knew she shouldn't be.

"Yes and after much discussion it was decided to open our homeland to the Overlander, but they wouldn't be the only refugees we would see."

"You've had contact with Mobians refugees fleeing from Robotnik," Mighty said.

"That's correct. It was during the construction of Soleana which was not only being built as the new home for my family and a travel destination, but also as a hub for anymore Overlander Refugees, but when the local militia discover a group of Mobians trekking through the jungle we learned of the heinous crimes committed by Dr. Robotnik," King Edward explained, "the United Assembly; the Terran Republic's ruling body convened for an emergency session to discuss the matter. Three days later it was decided that the Mobians would be granted amnesty, but the vote was a close one."

"How large of a Mobian population do you have?" Sonic asked.

They make up about 8% of Augustgrad's population with the Overlanders making up 21%, while Terrans make up the remaining population," Edward said as a number of servants entered the dining hall with several piping hot dishes, "Ah, what's on the menu today?"

"Broiled Ibanga with steamed Mellowyam," one of the servants replied.

"What's and Ibanga?" Tails whispered to Sonic.

"Donno."

"It's a fleet-footed creature native to the Savannah plains of Mazuri," Elise explained, "It's actually quite delicious."

"I'll take your word for it, Princess," Sonic said.

* * *

Location: Comm. Center

Two hours later…

* * *

Following lunch Sally and King Edward Routhe took a walk and arrived at the Communication Center where she would finally get to speak with the Prime Minister of the Terran Republic. The chamber had various pieces of communication equipment located all around the room, while a large window that allow the room to be flooded with sunlight.

"I have to admit your Majesty, that broiled Ibanga was delicious," Sally said.

"I'm glad that you and your friends enjoyed it," Edward explained, "are you ready to met the Prime Minister?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Sally said.

"Heimdall," the King said causing a small figure made of light and data to appear on the holographic projector in the center of the room."

"Yes Sire, how can I be of service?" the figure asked.

"Have you made contact with the Prime Minister?"

"Yes Sire, I made contact with him while you were at lunch, would you like me to patch him through?"

"Yes, proceed," the Terran King said placing his hands behind his back.

"One moment please," Heimdall said as he vanished in a flash of light.

"Heimdall is an Infrastructure AI who runs the day to day operations of Pokupeto Palace," Edward explained, "he was named after one of the Norse Gods."

"Oh," Sally said, "Are AI's common in the Terran Republic?"

"Oh yes, there are Corporate AI's, Military AI's, Government AI's, and then there are the Infrastructure AI's," the King replied, "the Infrastructure AI who operates Soleanna is known as Sif."

"That's very interesting," NICOLE's computer form said from Sally's belt.

"I almost forgot that you had came along, are you sure everything will be fine back home without you?" Sally asked concerned.

"I left a copy of my Operating System to keep the city running smoothly," NICOLE replied, "besides I wouldn't want to miss out on an adventure like this."

"The Prime Minister is online, patching him through now," Heimdall said from a speaker from somewhere in the room Augustgrad.

The holographic projector lit up and standing before them was a man dressed in a dark suit with short red hair, blue eyes, and holding a wooden cane with both hands.

"Sorry for the delay, your Majesty," the man said "and Princess Sally, allow me to introduce myself; I am Victor Carmichael the Prime Minister of the Terran Republic. It was brought to my attention that you and your friends seek an audience to discuss the possibility of an alliance."

"That is correct sir," Sally said, "We hope that you will consider an alliance with the Republic of Acorn and the United Federation in order to combat Dr. Robotnik and the Eggman Empire."

"We will need to discuss this in greater depth," Carmichael said, "Your Majesty, is it possible that you could-"

"Lord Regis is already working on it, Prime Minister," King Edward, "but given how busy he is their Visas might not be done until tomorrow afternoon."

"That's good," the Prime Minister said, "When you have your Visas you'll be allowed entry into Augustgrad, you can find my residence in Central City. I'll have my aide meet you at the airport, I'd rather be the one to meet you, but I just underwent knee surgery and the doctor doesn't want me moving around too much."

"I understand Mr. Prime Minister. We'll see you soon," Sally said.

"I await your arrival," he said as the image faded to nothing.

"In the meantime I suggest that you and your companions stay here for the night, it's the least we can do."

"Thank you, your Majesty."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Separate Ways

Location: Soleanna

Later the next day…

* * *

Sally, Sonic, Bunnie, and Antoine sat within the waiting room in the Mayor's Office waiting to receive their Visas that would allow them entry into Augustgrad, but Lord Regis was currently attending to a conference call.

"Ma Princess. Bunnie and I have been thinkin'," Antione said.

"About what?" Sally asked raising an eyebrow.

"Bein' here in Soleanna, we were sorta wonderin' if it be okay if we stay for a while," Bunnie explained.

"You want to go on you honeymoon," Sally said with a smile.

"You two do deserve a little time to yourselves," Sonic commented.

"Oui, it be only a little while," Antoine said.

"Go ahead," Sally said.

"You sho, Sally-girl?" Bunnie asked.

"We've got this," Sonic said with a grin, "you two should enjoy you might not get another chance like this for a while."

"We'll keep of eyez on Eggman," Antoine said.

Just then the door to Lord Regis' office opened and the Mayor of Soleanna emerged.

"Sorry about that," he said stepping out of his office, "I was speaking with the Transit Union trying to avert a potential strike."

"That's alright," Sally said.

"Thank you for providing the necessary data, I would not have been able to complete the proper documentation without it," Lord Regis said as he handed them several cards.

They were made of some sort of hard yet bendable plastic that was coloured purple each  
containing a small photograph with name, birthdates, residence, and country, while the emblem of the Terran Republic was painted on its surface. It was a circle outlined in black with a large white three-pointed star that had an upside down black three-pointed star laid over top.

"Thank you for all your help," Sally said.

"It was nothing, it's not often that we get delegates from another nation," Lord Regis replied.

"Tails and the others should have Freedom Two all prepped and ready to go," Sonic said jumping to his feet, "So let's get going. I wanna see what this Augustgrad is like."

"You'll have to excuse him, patience is not something he's known for," Sally apologized.

"Patience are for hospitals," Sonic commented.

"Wrong type Sugah-Hog," Bunnie giggled.

"Good luck, Princess," Lord Regis said.

"I'll probably need it."

* * *

Location: Outside Soleanna

Half an hour later…

* * *

Tails, Amy, Mighty, Gill, and Ray were seated in the shade of Freedom Two as they waited for the others arrive with their Visas that would get them in to Augustgrad.

"Kingdom Valley," Amy said, "sounds romantic."

"Only if you love crumbling ruins," Tails remarked as he lay on his back staring up at the clouds in the sky.

"Bet Knuckles would like it down here," Mighty said.

"R-Rouge too," Ray added, "…S-so why do you think Eggman c-came down here?"

"Looking for new property no doubt," Amy replied, "with New Megaopolis in ruins and his little base out in the Mystic Ruin no more then a smoking crater he's probably decided to set up shop elsewhere."

"Eggman would be a fool to fight the Terrans," Tails warned, "By the looks of it their technology may be superior to his."

"You really think so?" Amy asked.

"Eggman's robots were launching an attack on the city through the Shamar Desert just before we managed to rescue their Princess. They were outnumbered but they were holding their own," Tails explained.

"Do you think they'll ally with us?" Ray asked.

"I hope so," the young fox replied as he sat up, "Eggman's a threat but so are his sub-bosses."

"Even if they don't join our alliance, we'll have still opened diplomatic relations with them," Sally said approaching with the others in tow.

"Ready to go?" Tails asked jumping to his feet.

"We're stayin'," Bunnie announced.

"You are?" Amy asked in surprise.

"Oui," Antoine confirmed, "We wish to take our honeymoon."

"Well you definitely deserve time to yourselves; it's been a while since you two tied the knot," Mighty said.

"You'll come soon, right?" Amy asked.

"Definitely, Amy," Bunnie said.

Hugs were exchanged, good lucks were give, and soon everyone was piling into Freedom Two and strapped themselves in for launch. Sally headed into the Comm. Room to send a progress report to the Acorn Council back in New Mobotropolis while Sonic took a seat in the cockpit next to Tails.

"Ready for launch, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"Ready and strapped in," Sonic answered.

Tails hit the liftoff jets causing the entire ship to shudder as it began to rise as Bunnie and Antoine wave goodbye to their friends as the ship spun around in the opposite direction and blasted off towards that large silhouette of Mount Murasia that loomed in the distance.

TO BE CONCLUDED…


End file.
